Longer Shifts Lead to Emotional Exhaustion in Nurses

Hospital nurses who work longer than 12 hour shifts have are more dissatisfied and more likely to experience burnout in terms of emotional exhaustion, according to a new study.

Researchers at the University of Southampton (United Kingdom), the University of Basel (Switzerland), and other institutions conducted a study involving 31,627 registered nurses in 2,170 general medical and surgical units within 488 hospitals across 12 European countries. The researchers examined the association between working long shifts and burnout, job dissatisfaction, dissatisfaction with work schedule flexibility, and intention to leave current job among the hospital nurses.

The results showed that nurses who worked shifts of 12 hours or longer (common in Poland, Ireland, and England), were 50% more likely than nurses working less than eight hour shifts to experience burnout, in terms of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and low personal accomplishment. Nurses working the longer working shifts were also more likely to experience dissatisfaction with their job and work schedule flexibility, and reported an intention to leave their job due to their dissatisfaction. The results were published on August 23, 2015, in BMJ Open.

“Longer shifts aren't necessarily bad in themselves but we need to be mindful of increased risks and make sure the effects are closely monitored and pay close attention to other aspects of shift work, such as ensuring proper breaks within and between shifts,” concluded study coauthor, Prof. Peter Griffiths, PhD, of the University of Southampton, and colleagues. “The organization of shift work in many hospitals may be putting both patients and staff at risk.”

Health managers have increasingly favored 12 hour nursing shifts due to the belief they improve efficiency by reducing the number of shift handovers. Nurses too were believed to prefer them because they allowed them to compress the working week, leaving more time off-work, reducing commuting costs, and allowing more flexibility. The findings raise serious concerns over higher burnout rates, which may pose a risk to the quality and safety of patient care, despite the fact that many nurses still seem to prefer the 12 hour shift pattern.

Related Links:
University of Southampton
University of Basel